o, my plans for the afternoon were 'slightly' altered when I found that our large chest freezer in the basement was unplugged. It has been unplugged for at least a month. About 300 pounds of food was in there; mostly meat. I can not describe the foulness that I spent the last hour and a cleaning. It's plugged in now, to freeze the six inches of liquid in the bottom, so I can get it out to the back yard on an appliance mover.

The single saving grace was that it was closed, so there was no way for bugs to get into it because there is NO way I would have been able to deal with that.

And I only vomited twice!

The fridge will be hosed out, sanitized and put back in service tomorrow, and hopefully packed with venison for the dogs before too long! Usually I have to stop getting meat long before the supply runs out because the small freezer was for the dogs, and the big one for us. But I think I'll switch that, or just fill them both.

The only positive thing about this whole mess is that now that it's empty, I can move it so I can set up my workbench.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

Our basement has 18 inch thick solid stone walls. It stays at about 54 degrees year round... but I can't imagine what the stink would have been like if it had been warmer.

I just disposed of the bags. I had 7 contractor bags that I could barely lift. When I knotted them, I pushed all the air out. When I went outside a few hours later, they were taunt from the air pressure inside. One tore when I was getting rid of them, and the vomit count had a plus one.

Like I said, the fact that it was sealed was the only good thing... because maggots would have ended the whole thing.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

Pertinent info that Michelle left out: the freezer is airtight when closed, hence the smell of hundreds of pounds of rotting meat was contained. It's not as though it permeated everything and went unnoticed.

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

It was kinda smelly in the basement, but we're not in the basement all that often. I found it today when I tripped over the plug, and realized that it wasn't plugged in... and realized that it hadn't been plugged in for quite some time.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

mnp13 wrote:Oh, I had a surgical mask, heavy gloves and fans running. It was vile. v-i-l-e.

I start hitching from gross scenes in movies. And diapers. And kids with runny noses.

Don't forget when your husband slurps up raw oysters like spaghetti during dinner!

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

However, I can scoop up some of the liquid and put it in the mail for you if you'd like to experience it for yourself!

I can't get the freezer out of the basement presently, so it's on the highest setting until I figure out how to move it or get help. I'm going to try a pully to get it moving and then I should be fine. But that won't be until tonight or tomorrow night.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

However, I can scoop up some of the liquid and put it in the mail for you if you'd like to experience it for yourself!

I can't get the freezer out of the basement presently, so it's on the highest setting until I figure out how to move it or get help. I'm going to try a pully to get it moving and then I should be fine. But that won't be until tonight or tomorrow night.

Have you considered moving???

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”----Augustine

Ewwww..... that would be nasty! I remember when my husband unplugged our small freezer to use an extension cord on something and then forgot to plug it back in. I was lucky that I found it 2 days later and only a few things on the top had thawed.

But about 10 yrs ago the power was out here for about 2 weeks in the summer. We did not have the freezer then and cleaned out our fridge. The frozen stuff went across town to a friend's freezer that we had given him and we used an ice chest for our food. But one of our neighbors was away and did not come back for a month... they had a horrid stinky surprise when they came home... We bought a small generator after that one.

Could you maybe remove the frozen nasty and then wash the inside with hot soapy water without having to move the freezer out of the basement?

And I have heard that Vick's Vapor rub smeared under your nose will keep the stink from being overpowering...

turtle wrote:Ewwww..... that would be nasty! I remember when my husband unplugged our small freezer to use an extension cord on something and then forgot to plug it back in. I was lucky that I found it 2 days later and only a few things on the top had thawed.

But about 10 yrs ago the power was out here for about 2 weeks in the summer. We did not have the freezer then and cleaned out our fridge. The frozen stuff went across town to a friend's freezer that we had given him and we used an ice chest for our food. But one of our neighbors was away and did not come back for a month... they had a horrid stinky surprise when they came home... We bought a small generator after that one.

Could you maybe remove the frozen nasty and then wash the inside with hot soapy water without having to move the freezer out of the basement?

And I have heard that Vick's Vapor rub smeared under your nose will keep the stink from being overpowering...

Michelle came upstairs asking about that, too. Let me put this delicately. You don't want to put a mentholated rub anywhere near your nasal membranes when dealing with large amounts of putrefied flesh. The rub opens up the nostrils and intensifies the smell. The best way to deal with it is to figure out a way to jury rig a canister mask with very strong, very fresh coffee grounds in the air-filters.

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

turtle wrote:Could you maybe remove the frozen nasty and then wash the inside with hot soapy water without having to move the freezer out of the basement?

That's not a bad idea but unfortunately, the freezer is pretty big; so for me to reach the bottom of it I have to stand on something or lean over with my feet off of the floor. Either way, my entire upper body ends up in it, and the smell - even frozen - is overwhelming.

But I may end up stuck with that idea because I just calculated the weight of the frozen stuff - the freezer is about 4x2 feet, and there is about 6 inches of liquid at the bottom. At 8 pounds a gallon, that's 240 pounds, plus the weight of the freezer. I don't think I'll be able to move it, even with the appliance mover.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

turtle wrote:And I have heard that Vick's Vapor rub smeared under your nose will keep the stink from being overpowering...

Michelle came upstairs asking about that, too. Let me put this delicately. You don't want to put a mentholated rub anywhere near your nasal membranes when dealing with large amounts of putrefied flesh. The rub opens up the nostrils and intensifies the smell. The best way to deal with it is to figure out a way to jury rig a canister mask with very strong, very fresh coffee grounds in the air-filters.

Demo Dick

Ahhh thanks for letting me know! I just remembered reading about the Vicks being used for that somewhere.

That's a big freezer and would be hard to move with the frozen nasty in there. There is no good solution but if you can get the frozen thing out and find a way to get it out of the basement without it melting... but then what would you do with it? Drag it into the woods and leave it...?

But.... But.... (raises hand) What is that the coroners rub under their noses ON TELEVISION? Perhaps a similarly strong smelling something that is not menthol or something to fool we laypersons?

turtle wrote:

DemoDick wrote:

turtle wrote:And I have heard that Vick's Vapor rub smeared under your nose will keep the stink from being overpowering...

Michelle came upstairs asking about that, too. Let me put this delicately. You don't want to put a mentholated rub anywhere near your nasal membranes when dealing with large amounts of putrefied flesh. The rub opens up the nostrils and intensifies the smell. The best way to deal with it is to figure out a way to jury rig a canister mask with very strong, very fresh coffee grounds in the air-filters.

Demo Dick

Ahhh thanks for letting me know! I just remembered reading about the Vicks being used for that somewhere.